The Reason Genesis’ Phil Collins Secretly Hated Paul McCartney

Phil Collins is surely one of the biggest names of the Rock and Roll world, both with his solo career and being the drummer of Genesis. The band rose to success with Phil Collins since he joined in 1970. The original frontman Peter Gabriel quit Genesis in 1975 and left the band high and dry without a vocalist. After a few efforts to hire a new singer, they were unsuccessful, which led Collins to take the matter into his own hands.

He decided to try and sing ‘Squonk’ in the studio once and was successful at his attempt. The band decided he should sing the rest of the songs, and that day, Phil Collins became the vocalist of Genesis. His career and success escalated throughout the years with both his role as the frontman in the band and as a solo musician. He is one of the only three musicians that sold over 100 million records in their careers as a member of a band and as a solo artist. The other two members are the pop star Michael Jackson and The Beatles icon Paul McCartney.

To Collins’ surprise, his encounter with Macca didn’t go as he wished back in 2002. Although Collins was almost as accomplished as McCartney, the Beatle made him feel angry when he spoke to him at a party in Buckingham Palace. Collins didn’t like McCartney’s attitude towards him at all, and even 14 years later, Collins continues to feel resentment towards him.

Paul McCartney Called Phil Collins ‘Our Little Phil’

Collins revealed their conversation at an interview with Sunday Times in 2016, informing people about the beef he has with the Beatle. Although it might seem funny, Collins didn’t take it well when he heard it. According to Collins, he approached McCartney to get his autograph on the first edition of the book ‘The Beatles.’ McCartney then turned to his wife and humiliated Phil by calling him a ‘little Beatles fan.’ Collins didn’t make a scene but, his thoughts about McCartney changed forever.

The story told by Collins in 2016:

“I met him when I was working at the Buckingham Palace party back in 2002. McCartney came up with Heather Mills, and I had a first edition of ‘The Beatles,’ by Hunter Davies, and I said, ‘Hey, Paul, do you mind signing this for me?’ And he said, ‘Oh, Heather, our little Phil’s a bit of a Beatles fan.’ And I thought, ‘You fuck, you fuck.’ Never forgot it.”

Phil also analyzed McCartney’s personality after this incident. He stated that the Beatle will make the other person feel smaller because he is ‘Paul McCartney,’ and according to him, Macca has a huge attitude problem caused by his ego.

Here is how he continued:

“He has this thing when he’s talking to you, where he makes you feel [like], ‘I know this must be hard for you because I’m a Beatle. I’m Paul McCartney, and it must be very hard for you to actually be holding a conversation with me.'”

What Did Paul McCartney Say About Phil Collins’ Resentment?

Since the details about the incident were revealed 14 years after the event, it was already a long time for Collins to think about it and hate McCartney in his head. However, after he admitted it, he was reached out by the Beatle to make everything smooth between them again. Paul’s attitude towards the problem was just asking Phil to move on with their lives unlike the expected apology saying ‘sorry you’re upset.’ Collins wasn’t impressed because he needed to hear a clear understanding from Paul of his attitude and fix it.

Here is McCartney’s apology according to Collins:

“He’s been in touch about it because he was upset. I certainly didn’t get any flowers from him; I got more of a ‘Let’s just get on with our lives.’ And I’m sorry he’s upset that I kinda said something nasty about him. Well, it wasn’t really nasty. If people don’t tell people that sometimes their attitude could be a bit better, then you’re not gonna get any better, you know?”

We have heard many people getting disappointed after meeting their idols because they never seem to satisfy their exaggerated expectations. In Collins’ situation, it caused a 14-year resentment towards one of the biggest names in the industry. This is understandable because, in the end, he sold as many records as McCartney did and wasn’t less than him for Paul to treat him that way.